At the beginning of the episode, we see a woman dancing in a strip club. When she finishes, she leaves the building and speaks with a few friends while Mike Serrato (Aden Young) watches her from his vehicle. When she is alone, he gets out of his vehicle, passes by her, and walks into the tattoo studio. There, he gets a tattoo to remember the latest victim of the RRK. The artist warns him that this one is going to be tougher since it is mostly needle to bone but he doesn’t let that bother him. After that, we jump forward and join a meeting with the detectives and police officers. They discuss the latest developments in Gretchen’s case. Meanwhile, Leo Doyle (Sam Trammell) frantically searches for his ID badge at home.

He yells for Candace (Laura Gordon) to see if she has seen it. Paxton (Ed Oxenbould) interrupts and reminds his father that they’ll let him into the school with or without the badge. When they head downstairs, Leo finds John Ainsworth (Toby Schmitz) drinking coffee with Candace. They chat a bit before John invites Leo out for a drink. He refuses at first but eventually agrees to hang out with him again. Cyd Ramos (Gloria Garayua) wonders if the killer is cutting off tattoos to keep them as reminders of the murders but Mike doesn’t believe that. Mike says they’ve found the skin for one victim so the killer discards it and that the killer is trying to rid the women of something he finds objectionable.

Cyd goes through the tip line set up for Gretchen and Mike finds something about a woman who believes her sister who went missing 26 years ago could be linked to the RRK. Seconds later, Paige Serrato (Simone Kessell) gets a visit from Candace who is there for a counseling session. Candace says she has been stressed about things so it is going to be nice to have someone to talk to. She tells Paige about Paxton moving in with them and her miscarriage. Then, she tells Paige about Arlen (Anthony Phelan) and his memory issues which she believes are getting worse. She also mentions Dotty (Di Smith) who gets under Leo’s skin so frequently. Candace is asked about the miscarriage and says it is a good thing since she knows she can get pregnant.

She goes on to say that Leo saved her and Paige tries to get her to go deeper into that. Candace says she was a stripper before we jump forward and join John and Leo in a truck. They chat a bit before John claims to have killed Gretchen and he wants to know about Leo’s secrets. Leo doesn’t believe it and he calls him a piece of shat. He tells John to never come to his house again before John gets out and leaves. Meanwhile, Paxton and Sam (Milly Alcock) go down by the river so she can find a cockroach nymph. She explains that her dad would kill her if he knew she was down there because it is where the RRK dumps his victims. Paxton insults Mike before apologizing. Then, Sam asks him if he wants to talk about killing the dog and she doesn’t understand how he doesn’t feel bad about it.

After that, Mike and Cyd visit the woman who placed the tip about her sister missing for 26 years. She is positive that her sister didn’t disappear since she was trying to get her life together. She had been married and had a son. It was hard on Beth that she wasn’t allowed to see her son. The woman explains that Beth had a rose tattoo before showing them a picture of her. Cyd isn’t sure they’ve found another victim but Mike thinks they have. He believes an earlier victim would change everything. After that, Paxton and Candace hang out with Dotty and Arlen while waiting for Leo to arrive with peach cobbler. Arlen begins insulting Candace before Leo arrives. Candace leaves and Leo stays so he can try to set his father straight and stop him from insulting his wife.

Arlen isn’t willing to listen. When Dotty returns, Leo notices her earrings and this leads to a flashback of someone attacking a woman and cutting a tattoo from her chest. Mike returns to the police station and adds a picture of Beth to his wall. Then, he goes home and enjoys dinner with his family. He is forced to stop when his chest begins bleeding and Paige helps him deal with it. That night, Dotty returns home and is attacked from behind. The earrings are removed from her ears before we jump over to Leo who is in his shed. He takes a picture of Beth from his toolbox and puts the earrings in there. He pulls out a bag and starts cuddling with it. The following day, Leo teaches wrestling.

He practices with one boy and gets slammed down to the ground hard causing him to bleed. Sam is there and she wants to know if a girl can join the wrestling team. Leo promises to chat with her about that tomorrow before leaving to clean himself up. He goes to his vehicle and squeezes the wound and we see that black bag in his vehicle. Mike tells Randy about the new victim they’ve found. They’ve found a surgeon with a missing ex-wife who fits the profile and they believe he could be the RRK. They tell the boss that the man’s name is Arlen Doyle. Randy isn’t sure they should move but he allows them to investigate him as long as they do it by the book. Mike and Cyd get into their vehicle and Mike shows his partner the RRK is dead letter.

Then, we return to Candace and Paige. Paige learns that Candace worked as a stripper and that Leo literally saved her life. She says she was leaving the club one night and was attacked. She blacked out before waking up on the wet ground. Leo was there and was sincerely worried about her. Although she didn’t know him, she trusted him and they knew they were meant to be together. Then, we see Leo carry a woman out by the river. She begins breathing again so he starts choking her. Then, we join Mike and Cyd at the bar. They agree they need a subpoena. Mike leaves and returns to the police station so he can look at the evidence again. Paige smokes from her window while Jake plays with fire and Sam looks at her bugs. Amanda (Mitzi Ruhlmann) snaps a picture of a rose and sends it to a friend.

Leo returns home and wakes Candace. He tells her to go back to sleep before finding his ID badge. He puts it on and gets into bed before we see the dead woman near the river. She isn’t dead though. She wakes up and finds a card for Mike Serrato in her hand.

 

Reckoning Review

I am starting to think that this show would be much better with only 5 or 6 episodes. That would cut out some of the unnecessary stuff and get to the point much sooner. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. The acting is weak at times. Some of the dialogue is a bit cheesy and unbelievable. Still, I am interested in finding out who is responsible for the RRK killings.

There hasn’t been much worth watching recently so I guess Reckoning isn’t so bad. At the very least, it is good enough to keep us entertained until something else comes along. This episode scores a 7 out of 10. You can find previous recaps of Reckoning on Reel Mockery.